Following After You
by LoveIsGolden
Summary: This is a missing part in Breaking Dawn: Kate and Garrett's love developing. It got honorable mention in the "Breaking Dawn Missing Moments" contest on Twilighted.


_**A/N: This is supposed to go somewhere between pages 625 and 724 in Breaking Dawn. It was written for the contest on Twilighted called "Breaking Dawn Missing**_ _**Moments." After Kate shocks him the first time, ending during the Volturi encounter.**_

**_And guess what?? (I'm never going to get tired of saying this.) It got runner up for the love category! *does happy dance* This is the first thing I've ever won for my writing._**

* * *

**Following After You**

Kate

We are in danger. Everyone knows that. Even Nessie knows it, though not quite the extent.

She really was amazing, the hybrid child. She had the best of both species: amazing strength, heartbeat, and the ability to survive on anything. Jealously, I suppose, is natural. She was human in a way I would never be again.

And that gift! Singular and extraordinary, the Volturi would have come for it eventually anyway, despite my sister's betrayal. Not to mention all the other gifts gathered in this one coven. Mind reading, prophecy, mental shield, emotion manipulation…it was quite ridiculous. Carlisle certainly had a talent for picking special human beings. And Edward, also.

Even with all our talents combined – all in all quite a few – we are destined to die. I know it. Everyone knows it.

So why is that Garrett always so happy?

It's damned annoying, really. It was like this was only a joke to him. After he asked me to shock him the first time, he was constantly badgering me about one thing or another. Would I shock him again? He thinks he's found a way to resist it. Would I show him how to hunt animals? He wants to challenge himself.

In fact, he was irritating me so much that one day – when he asked once again for me to shock him – my aggravation showed itself clearly in my power.

"Come on, Katie! Just once more! I think that if I can focus hard enough on a certain thing, I can resist it. Come on!" His eyes glittered with undiluted excitement. Good grief, he was actually enjoying this!

In a moment of rage, I grabbed both of his shoulders and shocked him with a higher voltage than I had ever used before. I didn't even know I was capable of it.

Garrett's eyes rolled back in his head and he crumpled out of my hands. He lay at my feet, his eyes still only showing the whites.

"Garrett!" I didn't have time to examine the mind-numbing terror I felt when he hit the ground.

I was quickly on my knees next to him. As I put my hand on his cheek, he jerked. My hand whipped back to my side. I couldn't even touch him!

"Garrett, wake up, wake up…" I crooned over him, lying down next to him. His face was mere inches from mine. "I'm so sorry."

Petrified, I lay next to him, still as the stone my body resembled.

How could this happen? There's only one way to kill an immortal. Beheading and burning. Simple. Singular. _How could this happen?_

I stared at his face, the face I had been dreading seeing for weeks now. It was smooth in death. I never realized how much I simultaneously loved and hated to see him. He was the one time in the day I felt anything but fear for the coming days. His blond hair sent a shiver up my spine every time it whipped around a corner…heading for me.

How could this happen?

After what seemed like an eternity to me but probably was only a minute, his blood red irises slowly flicked into view.

He's alive!

Garrett's eyes focused on me slowly.

"Katie? What happened?" His voice was scared. I wondered what he saw when he was unconscious. I knew that I would be frightened if suddenly I was in darkness. I would think I was dead.

"I knocked you out. I'm so, so sorry, Garrett!" My voice broke and I sobbed tearlessly. "I thought I killed you!"

"Well, it _was_ a fun experiment."

"Experiment?" Rage grabbed me again. I leaped to my feet. "Are you some kind of masochist? Do you get off on near-death situations or something? You must be, since you're here."

"I'm not a masochist," he said, still on the ground.

"THEN WHY DO YOU WANT ME TO TORTURE YOU?" I roared, pacing back and forth in front of him. "Is a dominatrix your idea of a sexual fantasy? 'Cause that's the way you're acting."

While I was yelling, Garrett was levering himself to his feet using both hands. Now he smiled at me. "You were scared."

"No! I wasn't, it's just that the Cullens need all the help they can get…"

He was smirking at me.

"What the heck are _you_ smirking at?" I asked, my voice low and dangerous.

"You were terrified." I opened my mouth to protest but he brought my face to his, lightly kissing my lips.

I froze and my eyes widened.

Garrett smirked at me again. "When you're ready to admit it, come and find me."

And he was gone.

Garrett

I had always been an adventurer. I always tried out the new and exciting. When the Sons of Liberty approached me, I accepted immediately. I was tired of the same old blacksmithing duty. It was exhilaration, escapade! I never regretted it even though it's what made me immortal.

I never fit into a coven. I was too restless. I moved from coven to coven, then from city to city. I made my home the sprawling urban landscapes and eventually made my way into various society pages. "Handsome Young Man Last Seen with the Missing Baroness" the headlines screamed. I didn't care. I moved along.

Of course, when Rosalie and Emmett – members of my old friend Carlisle's coven – asked my help with a dangerous endeavor, how could I refuse? Not only was Carlisle a wonderful friend to me, but the mission had my name written all over it. Risk…wasn't that my one true love?

Another challenge I couldn't refuse: Kate's power. The power to zap a vampire. Make him vulnerable. I was the one with the reckless streak, right? I wanted to overcome her power. I had never heard of anything like it. I could never resist a lure like that.

Little Katie – darling Kate! With her tiny waist, elegant arms and a walk that made men much more controlled than I drool – had me on the ground in mere milliseconds. I was astounded. This was the first time I had outright failed at anything I tried.

I just had to figure out how to beat it. I tried everything I could possibly think of. Distraction was a disaster. Closing my eyes – I had thought that maybe her power worked though eye contact – was an epic failure.

After a while, I stopped trying to resist her power. Testing myself became a background motivator. I was more focused on Kate herself. The way she laughed when Nessie touched her face. When she threw herself on Tanya for emotional support. I was watching her more often that I should have.

At first I didn't realize why she enthralled me or even that I was. When I started focusing on her curves and the way she moved, I was staggered. I had never felt a real physical attraction to anybody that was so strong. I literally wanted her, however new it was to me.

It went beyond that soon after. When the annoyance first started crossing her face and the subsequent pain I felt registered. Her irritation with me actually _pained_ me. From there I realized how very much I wanted her to like me.

I wasn't in love, I convinced myself. I could see my future without her; it was the same as my past. She was exquisite, definitely, but so were others of my kind. However, the need to be around her, to _please_ her, would not abate.

I soon came to the conclusion that I would romance her.

It was a decision born of confusion and desperation. I wished for her and so, I would have her. I just needed time to come up with a plan.

I continued as I had always done. I followed her, talked to her coven, and spent time with her when I could. When I was feeling particularly desperate for her attention, I would ask her to shock me.

This time seemed no different. I felt lonely – an odd emotion given my solitary nature. She was aggravated, of course. I just didn't comprehend how much.

As with most of our powers, hers was based on anger. The angrier, the higher the voltage. She could control herself, definitely. But like most vampires, she has shaky self control when scared or distracted…or angry.

I wasn't even aware that she touched me. One second I was looking at her gorgeous, destroying angel-like face, the next I was floating. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling. It was simply odd. I hadn't been unconscious in three centuries. It was disconcerting.

I also knew I was dreaming. It was one of those dreams where awareness of dreaming is there but the ability to stop isn't.

Kate was there. As usual she was unreal in her beauty. She was smiling and dancing in a meadow filled with white daisies. The toga-type dress that draped her body furled out behind her as she flew throughout the field, dazzling my eyes. As she moved, she drew closer and closer to me until she was inches away from my face.

She paused there, then cocked her head to one side as though listening. A smile graced her face and she lightly touched her lips to my cheek.

"Follow me," she said and danced away again.

My legs moved almost involuntarily and I walked after her skipping gait.

As I strode after her, the scenery changed. The wondrous meadow faded out and a new image replaced it. Faceless Volturi guards in swishing black robes surrounded the two of us. Some of them were empty handed and others held flame-throwers. The execution team: one group for tearing us apart and another for lighting us on fire.

Then, oddly, Kate disappeared. She was right in front of me until her form just winked out of sight.

I turned to the guards, growling and crouching into a defensive position. Even as I faced imminent death, I couldn't regret following Kate.

And in that I had my answer.

***

I snapped into consciousness.

The first thing I saw was Kate. I had somehow landed on the ground with her lying next to me. I took a small amount of pleasure in this.

But her face was scared and that was wrong; my angel shouldn't be scared. Her frightened face made me feel as if I should be upset too.

"Katie? What happened?" Fear tinged my speech.

"I knocked you out. I'm so, so sorry, Garrett!" Her voice broke. "I thought I killed you!"

I suddenly realized why she was anxious. She was worried about _me_. Here I was, concerned about her and she was worried about _me_.

She should never worry about me. I decided to make a joke. I wanted to make her feel better. Plus, I could never regret the clarity that came with that one revelation.

"Well, it _was_ a fun experiment," I replied.

Apparently I said something wrong because she exploded.

"Experiment?" She jumped to her feet, quivering in anger. "Are you some kind of masochist? Do you get off on near-death situations or something? You must be, since you're here."

I admired her from the ground. She really was beautiful from any point of view.

"I'm not a masochist," I denied, desperately trying to hold on to the conversation.

"THEN WHY DO YOU WANT ME TO TORTURE YOU?" she screamed, pacing now. "Is a dominatrix your idea of a sexual fantasy? 'Cause that's the way you're acting."

I used my hands and pushed my way up to my feet. "You were scared." I couldn't help but smile at her. If she was so worked up about me being hurt, maybe she felt something for me too?

"No!" she said quickly, her voice taking on an edge.

_Methinks the lady doth protest too much._

"I wasn't," she continued, "it's just that the Cullens need all the help they can get…"

My smile widened.

"What the heck are _you_ smirking at?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.

"You were terrified," I said simply.

Her mouth dropped open and she was probably about to say something before I cut her off.

By kissing her.

As I stepped back, she looked exactly like a deer in headlights: stunned and confused.

I smiled hugely. She was going to be mine, I just knew it. "When you're ready to admit it, come and find me," I said.

Then I ran.

There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness - Friedrich Nietzsche

Kate

Okay, so I was avoiding Garrett. What was I supposed to do? Here it was, nearly the end of my immortal life, and he was talking in riddles. What was he saying, "when you're ready to admit it"? Did that mean when I was ready to tell him I was worried about him? Of course, I was worried! I had thought I had killed him!

Or was he saying that he wanted to know when I was going to admit what it meant? Because, clearly, with that kiss, he meant something. Whether it was lust or what, he wanted something from me.

The question was…what?

And why was it that I so badly wanted it to be love?

Garrett

I decided to confront her. She was obviously confused. I figured she needed a push.

"Katie, I-"

She whipped around. "Don't say a word, Garrett. This is stupid and childish. We might _die_ soon, can you comprehend that? Our lives are hanging in the balance and you're wasting time on brainless puzzles? Wouldn't it just be better to stop all this foolishness?"

"But Katie, I-"

She cut me off again. "But nothing. You and I have made our choices to stay in this thing, and by god we are going to do it. This" – she gestured between the two of us – "is just squandering time and energy. Give it up!" She stared at me fiercely. "It means nothing."

I wish I had told her then. That I really and truly loved her. Whatever that meant. However, I stupidly tried to deny her claim.

"It doesn't-"

"Yes it does!" Her eyes shone and, if she could have cried, she probably would have. "What will happen, Garrett? What? You think we'll hook up? Not going to happen. You think we'll fall in love? That's not either. You think we'll even see each other again after this _if we're not dead_? Guess again!"

"Kate!" I exclaimed.

"WHAT?" she yelled back at me.

I suddenly fell silent. I had no idea what to say.

She gazed at me sadly for a moment. "That's what I thought."

Kate

"Is there no hope then?" Carlisle asked stonily.

"There is absolutely hope," Bella whispered, though of course I could hear her. "I only know my own fate."

I was almost envious of Bella. She _knew_ her fate, even if it was to die. It was better than drifting in the unknown, confused and alone.

As if Bella's words were a trigger, the air around us was filled with loving good byes.

Garrett, standing next to me, suddenly grabbed my hand. He looked deep into my eyes and said harshly, "If we live through this, I'll follow you anywhere, woman."

My throat suddenly felt clogged. A wave of remorse for what I'd put him through – both physically and mentally – the last month or so and most particularly the shocking I had just given him washed over me. How could I have doubted what I felt before?

I loved him. So _that_ was my fate.

I looked away, suddenly nervous for a completely different reason than I should have been. "Now he tells me."

And his lips met mine.


End file.
